Week 12-13 Blog Post

The Nish readings discussed within these weeks focus on activist genres and the connection between activism with literacy and genre. The ideas introduced by Nish initiate discussion surrounding the role that literacy plays within activism and the alterations made to it depending on what genre is utilized. For instance, Nish describes the usage of selfies as opposed to portraits and the mood or tone conveyed through each. The genre of the selfie usually conveys a less formal or serious mood and suggests that the image is rather casual and perhaps taken spontaneously. However a portrait shows that there is more thought put into the picture and suggests that the image of the person is at least somewhat formal. These examples can be related to the term slacktivism and the perceived tone surrounding the use of digital as opposed to physical activist settings. When one is physically out in the world and advocating for change, it conveys that those people are serious about making progress for a specific cause. However when activist work is done online it is perceived as less immediate and can be perceived as though the creator of the content is not fully dedicated to change because they are not in person speaking out for progress to be made. However, there are flaws within this idea because often the way people become knowledgeable of in person activist work is through digital platforms. Also, the spreading of knowledge and awareness surrounding a given topic achieves progress in that more people are informed than previously. Digital advocacy is also able to reach more widespread audiences giving a movement more opportunities for support.